


Eyes Shut

by galaxystiel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drinking to Cope, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Relationship Problems, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-31 07:28:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17845034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxystiel/pseuds/galaxystiel
Summary: Dean learns a lesson about the dangers of drink-driving, and in the process learns a few things about his future.





	Eyes Shut

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Writers of Destiel discord server challenge, 'Weekly Words', for the prompt, 'time flies'.
> 
> Note: About 90% of this is Dean being a jerk. It's in no way meant to reflect my feelings towards Dean, who I love dearly. This was just the idea I had for the prompt.

“Another?”

The bartender holds out a bottle of whiskey, an eyebrow raised. Dean looks down at his empty glass and then pushes it forward with one finger. “Fill ‘er up.”

“Last one,” she tells him. “I’m cutting you off.”

Dean grunts and looks at her. She’s stunning, all blonde and curvy and exactly his type. But he drags his eyes away, thinking about the perfect boyfriend he had waiting for him at home. Castiel was truly the man of his dreams, and nobody else held a candle to him, and hadn’t since they met as college roommates.

He looks down at his phone and sees that Castiel is calling, for the fifth time. Dean flips his phone, effectively silencing the call. He drains his glass and gets to his feet, dropping a wad of bills on the bar. A little unsteady on his feet as he steps onto the pavement, Dean leans against the wall to try and shake it off, closing his eyes.

 

* * *

He opens his eyes.

Everything hurts. His headache is blinding, enough that when he cracks his eyes open, all he can see is a whirl of colours, the sides of his vision tinged with darkness. He stretches out his legs, or at least he tries to. Nothing happens. His heart begins to thud as he tries to shift his legs, but all that happens is a bolt of excruciating pain in his neck and upper back, forcing a cry to spill from his lips.

That’s when he feels the seatbelt draped over his chest. Right, he was in the Impala, on his way home. He must have crashed. As soon as Dean thinks it through, he remembers. He’d swerved to avoid hitting something in the road – a dog, maybe – and the car had flipped.

He panics.

Nobody knew where he was. He’d told Castiel he’d been coming straight home from work but then he’d gotten that phone call –

“Open your eyes, Dean.”

He jumps at the voice and cracks his eyes open again, but the resulting head spin makes him nauseous and he closes them immediately.

“I can’t,” he whispers. “It hurts.”

Dean feels a gentle touch on his forehead and the pain dissipates. He opens his eyes.

There’s someone in the passenger seat: a pale woman with dark hair and matching eyes. Dean is positive he’s never met her before, that she wasn’t there when he got in his car, but he can’t shake the familiarity that he knows her. That he’s seen her face in his dreams.

“Who are you?”

“Tessa.” It’s an answer and an avoidance of one, all at the same time. She seems to recognise this. “I’m here to help.”

Dean sighs. “You did. I was in so much pain. How did you do that, anyway? Some kinda pressure point in my head?”

Tessa shook her head, and she looked sad. “It’s only temporary. I can’t make your pain go away permanently, Dean. But I can speed things along. After all, time flies.”

She waves her hand at the shattered dashboard of the Impala. Immediately, the hands of the clock begin to tick, faster and faster until they’re whirring at an impossible speed. Dean stared, transfixed, until -

 

* * *

He blinks, and he’s in a hospital bed, restrained. He has no idea how much time has passed.

Tessa is gone, but to the side, he sees Castiel and Sam, talking to one of the doctors. They haven’t noticed that he’s awake yet. Dean opens his mouth to speak, but his throat croaks quietly. Nobody even looks at him.

“-unlikely that Dean will ever walk again.”

 _What_?

Castiel buries his head in his hands and Sam stalks out of the room. Dean closes his eyes, feeling tears leak out of them. Why had he had that last drink? Why hadn’t he just gone home? If it wasn’t for that goddamn phone call –

He can’t think about that. It hurts too much.

But he replays the words he’d overheard from his doctor, over and over in his head. He’ll never walk again. Never drive Baby. Never even get to take Castiel to bed again, not the way he used to, or carry him over the threshold on their wedding day.

Nothing hurts as much as that.

“Is it true?” The words burst from his lips, raspy and hoarse. “Cas, ‘m I ever gonna walk again?”

Castiel leaps to his feet and hurries over. Dean closes his eyes as he feels more tears fall, sliding down the side of his face. A gentle hand smooths through his hair, and Dean knows in that instant that Castiel is about to lie to him.

“Of course you are. It’ll take time, but I believe in you.”

Dean turns his face away, leaning away from his boyfriend’s touch. “Please go. I’d like to be alone for a little while.”

“Dean –”

“Out, Cas!” He snaps. “Just get the fuck out.” He doesn’t look as Castiel’s hand withdraws, and doesn’t glance back until he hears the sound of the door click shut.

He just can’t bear to.

“It’s not his fault, you know.” Tessa leans against the wall at the foot of his bed. “He wasn’t the one who decided to drink a fifth of whiskey and drive home.”

“I know that,” Dean spat. “Forgive me for wanting to mourn the fact that I’m gonna spend the rest of my life with my boyfriend acting as my nursemaid.”

Tessa raises an eyebrow. “Oh, Castiel doesn’t stay with you. You push him away, drinking more and more often to block out the pain. He tries to stick it out, but eventually leaves you when you forget your daughter’s fifth birthday party.”

“I don’t have a –” Dean cuts himself off and swallows, trying to process everything, and then feels his anger surge again. “What is this, a divine intervention? You think you can just scare me with this shit and then I’ll make better choices? Because if this is where I’m gonna end up, in a wheelchair for the rest of my life and no Cas, then consider my lesson learned.”

Tessa walks over and sits beside Dean, reaching out to touch his arm gently. “I’m sorry, Dean. There’s no going back from this. I can’t undo time, I can just speed it up.”

Dean feels the last of his hope shatter and his heart aches in his chest. “Then what good are you?”

“I can help you. I can speed things up, make it so you don’t have to live through everything you put Castiel through. You can remember your relationship as it was, without seeing him grow to resent and hate you.”

The breath knocked out of his lungs, Dean shakes his head. Castiel could never resent him, Castiel loved him. Always had. Even though Dean is sometimes a jerk and drinks too much and never talks about his feelings. It’s this stupid job, working for Sandover Bridge & Iron Inc. is too competitive, puts too much on him and he’s a far cry from the carefree student that Castiel had fallen in love with. Some days, Dean doesn’t even recognise himself.

Castiel deserves better.

“If – if that will make it better for him, make it easier… then yes. I just want him to be happy.”

Tessa smiles. She waves her hand to the side and Dean follows the movement to look at the clock. The hands speed up again and Dean sobs. _He can’t do this,_ he wants a few more years with Castiel, even if it ends with Cas hating him –

 

* * *

“Another?”

The bartender holds out a bottle of whiskey, an eyebrow raised. Dean looks down at his empty glass and then pushes it forward with one finger.

“Nah,” he says, straightening up. “I think I’m done. Got someone waiting for me at home.”

She smiles, and her gaze drops to the counter top. “I think your phone is ringing.”

Dean picks up the phone immediately. “Hey, Cas.”

“ _Dean, I was so worried. I thought you were coming straight home_?”

Taking a deep breath, Dean collects himself. “I’m at the Roadhouse,” he begins, and then pushes forward. “My dad died today. And I’m thinking about quitting my job tomorrow.”

Castiel is silent for a long moment. “ _Do you want to talk about it? I can come and pick you up if you don’t feel like it’s safe for you to drive_.”

His tone is one that is preparing for Dean to refuse. So Dean takes another, steadying breath. “That sounds perfect. Leave now? I love you, Cas.”

Surprise colours Castiel’s tone, but it’s hidden under layers of affection. “ _I’ll be there soon. Love you too._ ”

Dean drops a wad of bills on the counter and leaves. A brunette woman enters as he reaches the door, and she holds it open for him, stepping aside.

“Thank you.”

She smiles at him, like she knows something he doesn’t. She looks sort of familiar. “You’re welcome.”

**Author's Note:**

> [MY TUMBLR](http://blueeyedangel.co.vu)


End file.
